Cooking Processes - Baking

This is the most convenient form of cooking. Baking is cooking in hot air and hot air plays a very important part in cooking. Although baking in a closed oven is not done by radiant heat, there is a great amount of heat radiated from the sides of the oven and from the top and bottom.

The hot air in an oven is likely to become tainted with the fumes of burnt grease and smoke, which too often communicates disagreeable flavors to things baked more especially to meats.

This can be avoided to a large extent if the oven is kept scrupulously clean and well ventilated. For braising, roasting and baking bread, cakes, pastry, puddings, custards and many savory meats, vegetable and farinaceous dishes, the oven will always remain in favor.

Difference Between Baking and Boiling

The difference between baking and boiling is that by the former method, the food is cooked by dry heat, whilst by the latter is cooked by liquid heat. Baking, as compared with other cooking processes such as broiling and roasting, differs in this: while by broiling and roasting the food is cooked by full exposure to the hot air, baking is performed in ovens, more or less closed structures whereby the action of dry heat is modified by the presence of the steam that comes from the food which is being baked.

Table Talk: The American Authority upon Culinary Topics and Fashions of the Table, Vol. XXVII, 1912, A Series of Articles Published Throughout the Year. Published Monthly by The Arthur H. Crist Co., Cooperstown, NY. A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Interests of American Housewives, Having special reference to the Improvement of the Table. Marion Harris Neil, Editor.